man levels of irony here, how rich. the irony that most strikes me is that cb would never have won the award (let alone the divisional thing) if Joe D HADN'T traded him. But not only was the mere fact of the trade free publicity for CB, but he also got to play the role of stabilizing eminence grise to the wacky nuggets, thus heightening (if not exaggerating) the impression of CB as sportsman; an impression further highlighted by the contrast with AI's b.s. at the end of the season.

If I believed in this sort of thing, I'd be tempted to say that the league was "punishing" Joe D for the trade.